Center History

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Learn More About the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine

Founded in 1993, the mission of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine is to improve health, well-being, and the quality of life of people by blending the best of Modern Western medicine with Traditional Chinese Medicine to provide healthcare that is safe, effective, affordable and accessible.

The Center has established a model system of comprehensive care with emphasis on health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation through an integrated practice of East-West Medicine. Ours is a patient-centered, problem-solving approach to care. The Center’s model represents a new healthcare paradigm that provides a potential solution to the current healthcare crisis. The UCLA Center for East-West Medicine successfully combines outstanding clinical care, education, research, and international programs designed to advance the field of medicine and train the next generation of leaders in integrative medicine.

Hui and Mellinkoff

With the generous philanthropic support of Dr. Hui’s supporters, the Center launched our Education Programs in 1995. Education and training continue to permeate every aspect of the Center’s activities. We learn from each patient we treat, and what we learn from each patient enhances the quality of care of subsequent patients.

Our clinical work forms a core component of our education programs and generates questions we seek to answer in our research. Our education and training programs transform the thinking and the clinical care of those who train with us and this generates an educational ripple effect: the physicians and nurses we train become change agents and leaders in the positive transformation of our healthcare system. Since 1995, over one thousand students and clinicians have completed these programs.

We have launched an ambitious China project, an ambitious, multi-faceted effort. The China Project is an international extension of the Center’s clinical, education, and research programs and will establish the Center and UCLA as a world leader in integrative East-West medicine. The components of our China Project are the UCLA Information Center for West-West Medicine; the Visual History Project; Visiting Professors; and the Leadership Training Program.

“Your proposal for an expanded UCLA Center for East-West Medicine strikes me as an inspiring plan. Its implementation could be of great value in medical education, medical research, cost-effective and compassionatecare of patients, prevention of illness, and synergistic application of principles originating in Eastern and Western civilizations. The beacon you have already ignited at UCLA could, through this Center, grow in luster to the benefit of all mankind.” - Sherman M. Mellinkoff, MD, Dean Emeritus, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Center Founders
Center Founders (left to right): Elaine Pang, Mrs. Hui, Dr. Hui, and Dr. Yu